Leveler alarm

RBard48 · 08-22-2022, 04:41 PM

Driving on I-86 in NY in a heavy rainstorm and the leveler alarm goes off in my Thor ACE saying "Jacks are down". I pull off the side and check and all jacks are up. I checked the reservoir and fluid is good. I attempted to put Jacks down but no response and only the light is on saying "Jacks are down". I should add that the compartment is pretty wet in there due to the heavy rains I have been going through. How can I disconnect the system so the alarm doesn't keep going off? I tend to think something shorted out due to the wetness. Thanks.

**16ACE27** · 08-22-2022, 06:46 PM

The alarm is actuated by loss of "keep up" pressure on each leveler. Did you try to retract the levelers?

jonesyracing · 08-22-2022, 08:02 PM

As he said try the "retract all" button. On our '13 Tuscany often after starting up the coach and driving, even if I have not had the levelers down,
my leveling alarm will go off by beeping a dozen times or so every 10 minutes or so until I come to a stop and push the retract all and wait for it to cycle thru and clear all lights then I can turn off leveler control and continue driving without the alarm sounding. I just try to remember to always do the retract all before driving off. I have added more than enough fluid.

Chateau_Nomad · 08-23-2022, 02:28 AM

Last year I was driving in traffic through Charleston WV... in a seedy part of town trying to get on the freeway... when my levelers alarm went off. It freaked me out. I envisioned the leveler jacks getting ripped off the bottom of the motorhome.

I found a place to pull over - lo and behold they were up. Turns out there is a small microswitch that must "make" when each jack is fully retracted. If one is even slightly out of contact with it's "fully up" microswitch, the alarm sounds. This can be caused by road vibration. As described above, simply hitting the "retract all" button fixes it.

One session of this and you know exactly what to look for!

Judge · 08-23-2022, 10:03 AM

Two things to look at.....

Check your 100A Bussman Breaker in / near the battery compartment. With all that water it could have tripped the power to the leveler power unit and causing the alarm.

As Ted indicated, the Jacks Down Alarm is determined by pressure. There is a sensor on the power unit (see the picture below) that can go bad... or water got into the connector and now the sensor is not reading the pressure. I would pull the connector off the sensor and dry the pins on the wiring harness and the sensor itself.

RBard48 · 08-30-2022, 11:19 PM

Thanks for all the responses. Was able to finally have a mobile tech able to have it checked out at our next camp site. Fortunately the sites have been pretty level for us. Turns out the pump to the leveling system is shot. Tech also says the pump feels "like it has rocks in it" when he manually turns it. He stated that in over 10 years he never had to replace a pump and he told me that his father before him never did either. He said "they just don't go bad" in his opinion and it always seems to be the pump. He contacted Lippert and a new system is $2300.00 and will take 5-7 business days to ship. I talked with tech and I decided to have the motor rebuilt here at a local shop and take my chances that it is just the motor. Anyone have a motor AND a pump go out?

**16ACE27** · 08-30-2022, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RBard48

Thanks for all the responses. Was able to finally have a mobile tech able to have it checked out at our next camp site. Fortunately the sites have been pretty level for us. Turns out the pump to the leveling system is shot. Tech also says the pump feels "like it has rocks in it" when he manually turns it. He stated that in over 10 years he never had to replace a pump and he told me that his father before him never did either. He said "they just don't go bad" in his opinion and it always seems to be the pump. He contacted Lippert and a new system is $2300.00 and will take 5-7 business days to ship. I talked with tech and I decided to have the motor rebuilt here at a local shop and take my chances that it is just the motor. Anyone have a motor AND a pump go out?

The motors go out all the time; the attached pump - not so much. It's very easy to remove the motor to see if the issue is in the motor or pump.

knucklehead · 09-04-2022, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RBard48

Driving on I-86 in NY in a heavy rainstorm and the leveler alarm goes off in my Thor ACE saying "Jacks are down". I pull off the side and check and all jacks are up. I checked the reservoir and fluid is good. I attempted to put Jacks down but no response and only the light is on saying "Jacks are down". I should add that the compartment is pretty wet in there due to the heavy rains I have been going through. How can I disconnect the system so the alarm doesn't keep going off? I tend to think something shorted out due to the wetness. Thanks.

I've had issues with the leveling system on my 2018 Windsport 29m since I bought it. It would start screaming and beeping going down the road and it was a nightmare. This year it finally quit. The Camping World in Concord, NC first diagnosed it as a bad valve that was allowing the jack to drop down and then would run every couple minutes raising it up. It finally fried the pump. I had my extended warranty finally cover replacing the pump which has all four control valves included. It has worked so far but I hold my breath everytime I level it or retract it.

I'd bet your pump and several valves may be bad!!!!

Chateau_Nomad · 09-05-2022, 02:21 AM

How old is this coach?

**16ACE27** · 09-05-2022, 02:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chateau_Nomad

How old is this coach?

OP's is a 2017

Chateau_Nomad · 09-05-2022, 03:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 16ACE27

OP's is a 2017

Okay... so that's potentially almost 6 years of use. Next question is what's the duty cycle of the hydraulics, followed by how much have the levelers been used?

Curious; trying to get an idea how long these things last... they sure ain't cheap!

**16ACE27** · 09-05-2022, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chateau_Nomad

Okay... so that's potentially almost 6 years of use. Next question is what's the duty cycle of the hydraulics, followed by how much have the levelers been used?

Curious; trying to get an idea how long these things last... they sure ain't cheap!

Well, we have a 2016 and use the levelers every time we park at a campground. No issues other than a motor issue early on. Hydraulic systems can run decades with no issues - look at tractors.

Chateau_Nomad · 09-05-2022, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 16ACE27

Well, we have a 2016 and use the levelers every time we park at a campground. No issues other than a motor issue early on. Hydraulic systems can run decades with no issues - look at tractors.

I spent about $3k on a Big Foot system. The only basic maintenance is evidently keeping the exposed silver piston rod clean. Seems fairly simple...

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